VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

China has resumed the issuance of ordinary visas for Japanese citizens travelling to the country, the Chinese embassy in Japan said on Sunday, in a move that could ease a diplomatic row.

Effective on Sunday, the embassy and Chinese consulates in Japan will resume the examination and issuance of ordinary visas for Japanese citizens to China, the embassy said in a statement.

China this month stopped issuing visas for Japanese nationals after Japan toughened COVID-19 border control rules for travellers coming directly from China.

Japan lodged a protest to China over the suspension of visas for Japanese citizens, asking Beijing to reverse the action. (Reuters)

Maldives President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih won the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party's (MDP) presidential primary election, the first time an incumbent has faced a primary challenge, according to preliminary results on Sunday.

But his challenger, former President Mohamed Nasheed has not accepted the results reported by the party. An official from his campaign said on Saturday the results were questionable, as voter tallies in some ballot stations did not match total eligible voters.

Nasheed's supporters and representatives have alleged voter fraud and vote rigging in the contentious election in the archipelago off India and Sri Lanka.

Solih secured 61% of the vote with 24,566 ballots, beating Nasheed with 15,641, the party said. Both had made whirlwind campaign tours across the country over the past month.

More than 40,000 MDP members, or 71%, voted, the party said.

Solih supporters gathered in the capital Male to celebrate after local media projected his victory on Saturday. Meeting them at the main MDP rally centre, Solih called on the members to unite for the upcoming presidential election.

"Now our competitive nature should be put behind us. That is over. Now we have to unite to ensure MDP wins the presidential election," he said.

A few scuffles broke out during the voting in some islands, with police arresting three men for disrupting ballot activities. They were arrested for vandalising ballot boxes, a police spokesperson said.

Another contentious issue was the removal of several thousand members from MDP's registry, rendering them ineligible to vote in the primary. Nasheed's campaign has said the move affected mostly the ex-president's supporters.

MDP has countered that the removals reflected attempts to bring the party's membership registry in line with the official registry maintained by the Elections Commission. MDP said members who were removed had the opportunity to rejoin the party and were given time to do so. (Reuters)

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg arrived in South Korea on Sunday, the first stop on a trip that will include Japan and is aimed at strengthening ties with the U.S. allies in the face of the war in Ukraine and rising competition with China.

In the South Korean capital, Seoul, Stoltenberg met Foreign Minister Park Jin, and was expected to meet President Yoon Suk-yeol and Minister of National Defence Lee Jong-Sup.

NATO is concerned about North Korea's "reckless" missile tests and nuclear weapon programme, while the war in Ukraine had ramifications for Asia, Stoltenberg told Park in remarks at the beginning of their meeting, citing suspicion that North Korea is providing military support to the Russian war effort.

"This just highlights how we are interconnected," he said.

Both officials cited "shared values" between NATO countries and South Korea.

"Given today’s unprecedented global challenges, we believe that solidarity among countries that share values of freedom, democracy, and rule of law is more important than ever," Park said.

Flying to Tokyo on Monday, the secretary general has meetings scheduled with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and other Japanese officials.

While NATO will remain focussed on Europe and North America, its members are affected by issues around the world, Stoltenberg told South Korea's Yonhap News agency in an interview.

"We need to address these global threats and challenges, including the challenges coming from China, and one way of doing that is, of course, to work more closely with partners in the region," he said.

Yoon and Kishida became the first leaders from their countries to attend a NATO summit, joining alliance leaders as observers last year.

Following the summit, South Korea opened its first diplomatic mission to NATO, vowing to deepen cooperation on non-proliferation, cyber defence, counter-terrorism, disaster response and other security areas.

Chinese state media had warned against South Korea and Japan attending the NATO summit and criticised the alliance's broadening partnerships in Asia.

North Korea has said NATO involvement in the Asia-Pacific region would import the conflict raging in Europe.

Both North Korea and Russia have denied U.S. accusations that North Korea is supplying weapons for the war in Ukraine.

North Korea on Sunday criticised for a second day a U.S. decision to send tanks to Ukraine, calling it an "unethical crime" aimed at perpetuating an unstable international situation. (Reuters)

Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi reiterated the government's determination to continue overseeing the Jakarta-Bandung High-speed Railway (KCJB) project to its completion.

"Mr Luhut (Coordinating Minister for Maritime and Investment Affairs Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan), Mr Erick (Minister of State-owned Enterprises Erick Thohir) and I have been tasked by Mr President to oversee this project. We expect the railway system will elevate our nation's competitiveness," Sumadi stated while monitoring the project in Tegalluar Station, Bandung District, West Java, Saturday.

Sumadi said in a statement obtained here on Sunday, the high-speed railway project progress has reached 86 per cent completion, and railway operators PT Kereta Cepat Indonesia China (KCIC) and PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI) targeted the development complete by June 2023 and operational on July 2023.

The ongoing progress in the project includes track laying and the electric system works, as well as the development of public access and public transport integration.

The minister emphasised the urgency of the public transportation project to address various issues, including the traffic congestion issue.

"We understand that the cost incurred from the traffic congestion reaches trillions (of rupiahs). Hence, President Jokowi challenged us to develop MRT, LRT, high-speed railway, and other public transportation systems expected to reduce our losses from traffic congestion," Sumadi noted.

Indonesia is keen to become the first Southeast Asian country to have a high-speed railway network, he added.

Meanwhile, he said that the KCJB system, developed with high technology, could help increase the capacity and capability of national railway human resources.

"The development of MRT, LRT and high-technology high-speed railway systems can be the laboratory for our people to study. European nations, Japan, and other countries are accustomed to developing (those systems), hence, we must develop breakthroughs to allow us to have a new experience to develop better public transport systems in the future," Sumadi expounded.

The minister also noted that the government has collaborated with two British consultants, The Crossrail International and Mott Macdonald Indonesia, to prepare the high-speed railway operation. (Antaranews)